My new favorite TV show

So as is the norm when I get home from whatever I happen to be doing each day, I turned on ESPN today a few hours ago. I was especially happy today because I was able to catch the second half of what is quickly becoming one of my new favorite TV shows, "Gruden's QB Camp."
I liked Jon Gruden when he was a head coach in the NFL, and since he has left that line of work and become a TV personality, I have grown to like him even more. What Gruden does on this show is sit down with a number of quarterbacks in the upcoming draft and converse with them about various topics, followed by watching them workout on the field throwing the ball. The show really gives a great perspective on what a coach looks for on film, and it teaches the viewers about some of the finer points of the quarterback position.
On this episode, Gruden was working with the man who is now, according to the Indianapolis Colts, going to be the first pick in the upcoming draft, Andrew Luck. Gruden spoke with Luck about some general quarterbacking subjects, and then proceeded to run through tape of a play that Luck had run at Stanford many times. The play was designed to be a swing pass to the fullback, and Gruden went through multiple videos of Luck throwing the pass to perfection to the fullback coming out of the Stanford backfield. Gruden then showed tape of Stanford playing Oregon when the same play was called. The fullback was covered coming out of the backfield, and Luck looked back across the field to a wide receiver that appeared to be open, but instead decided to tuck the ball and run for about six yards. Both Gruden and Luck agreed that it appeared Luck was tempted to make the throw across the field, which is something quarterbacks are often times unsuccessful in doing.
Finally, Gruden showed video of Stanford running the same play in one of their biggest games last season, against the USC Trojans. This time, with the same play called and the same players running the same routes, Luck hardly even glanced at the fullback, threw back across the field, and promptly had his pass intercepted by a defender and run back the other way for a touchdown. The defender read the play, and was in perfect position to make the interception in stride and take the ball in easily for the score.
I found this all to be extremely insightful as far as the world of coaching tape goes. The progression from Luck running a relatively easy play for an easy completion to him making an ill-advised throw that ended in points for the other team was a great lesson in how coaches see the game and how even the best players can make bad mistakes over the course of a season. Gruden was trying to get the point across to Luck that he should never try to be too much of a hero because the coaches and players in the NFL will take advantage of his mistakes much more frequently. Even though Luck will be the top pick in the draft and has been labeled by some as the best quarterback prospect since John Elway, what Gruden did was illustrate the fact that he still had things that needed to improve upon.
After the time in the film room, Gruden took Luck outside on to the field and watched him throw different routes from various positions on the field. Not only does doing all of these things humanize the prospects that we will see on draft day, but it helps the viewers to really look at the game of football in a different light than most of us normally do. Gruden did episodes with various other quarterbacks that are projected to be drafted, including Kirk Cousins, Brandon Weeden, Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, and others.
There are many ESPN shows that I like and I make sure to watch when I can, but "Gruden's QB Camp" is quickly moving up near the top of that list. Some of the personalities on ESPN are there just simply to disagree with everyone and try to cause a firestorm (Skip Bayless), other former ESPN personalities are there to be complete fools that have no right being on television (Jim Rome), but Jon Gruden is there to help the viewers better understand the game of football, and he does one heck of a job in doing so, so I will continue to tune in every time I see him on TV.

Daily Rangers Update: One extra off day today means Game 5 is tomorrow. With the series tied 2-2, and Game 6 being in Ottawa, it is pretty much a must-win game. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Josh Collmenter actually pitched pretty well, definitely making his best start of the season. However, he left the game and things snowballed into a very bad night. The combination of Chris Young going on the DL, Justin Upton missing another game, and Miguel Montero getting the night off ended up working out very poorly in a 10-2 loss to drop us to 7-6. Trevor Cahill takes the mound tonight to hopefully end this little skid and get us back in the win column.
Daily Giants Update: Not much new to report. Jerry Reese said it is still possible that Osi Umenyiora could be re-signed, but I would not be surprised if he is not. The draft is less than a week away as the Super Bowl champions try to start the new season off right with a good infusion of young talent.